User blog:BrickfilmNut/Synopsis Presentation 2
Still didn't receive any comments from Jeyo/Mvp, but I eventually tried to finish what I could the best I can, leaving crucial bits blank. Not much is new for tier 1-2; just quotes and some minor changes that I can't even remember now. Anyway, this time I'm not in great need of feedback like this time. It's more just an opportunity to show anoyone who's curious. Of course, if you have feedback, be sure to submit it regardless. :P Note: The external feedback I gathered before is not present in this version, but it is present in the one I sent out and saved, appearing in their own sections. Hub – Introduction “Hey, so you’re an explorer! Acrea’s certainly the place for you, then.” '' '' The player, previously a not-too-serious explorer, wakes up with mild amnesia on the outskirts of the Hub, in a sort of cavern. At first, he has trouble understanding/remembering most of even the basics of his world, but quickly regains his memory on that, though he remains fuzzy on the time leading up to his amnesia. The player is discovered by another explorer by accident; the player is in a very deep ditch (a sort of “how did he get down there?” scenario), and the rescuer, from above, instructs the player on how to act in order to get himself out, teaching him the player’s basic abilities. Once out of the ditch, the player learns from the rescuer, who recognizes that he is an explorer based on the reports of one having gone missing, informs him a little bit on who he is and the characteristics of this part of Acrea. Soon after, another explorer that was journeying with the rescuer gets pursued into the cave as well by an enemy creature, and the player has to defend him, learning about combat. The player’s courage leads his rescuer to suggest that he hone his skills at the Training Academy, and that he could be a big help to Acreans? as an experienced explorer, from which the player takes inspiration. The player goes to the Academy, where they systematically hone their skills in the programs offered by the Academy. As part of his training, the league leaders/organizers send him on various missions across the hub, allowing him to utilize the skills he is learning. During these missions, he meets a mythology expert (at a temple) and a communications coordinator working for the league, both of which will help him during later missions of his. “Good luck, explorer. Acrea is a place of both danger and wonder, though reports are saying there’s been more of the danger than usual…” '' '' Eventually, the player has saved enough money to buy their own glider, and has obtained their explorer’s badge (except with a less lame name…), which grants them access to league-owned locations and equipment throughout Acrea, as well as normally-restricted areas.* The player gets ready to fly off to explore the other worlds, but upon leaving, first encounters a couple of Inferion (or another small Korri-made species), foreshadowing the darkness and danger that awaits. *In order to gain more information and familiarity with regards to Acrea through the explorers, and in the additional hopes of earning their assistance in colonization, Acrean governments/organizations have passed laws giving trained individuals associated with certain leagues extra permissions normal minifigures would not have. Cave World “Welcome to World Acrean Name, where you can’t be closer to both the sky and earth at the same time.” '' '' After a few of the minifigures on the surface of the mining world are being attacked by the wildlife, the player must assist in fixing a few of the problems they have caused (as well as several other missions), getting the chance to interact with a lot of the sci-fi equipment. The headquarters that this all occurs at is fairly large, consisting of a docking area for ships and vehicles, a communications tower, and more, so there should be lots to interact with. Maybe there could be some Blacktron-esque guys in a small mission here too? I was thinking of adding them later anyway, as seen below after Tier 2. Anyway, these missions lead to the player being given access to the mines, as well as the proper equipment, to investigate why some of the monsters have been found in increasing numbers near the base. They go underground, digging and progressing further into the earth, and eventually find that a bigger monster, of a species normally living very deep in the world, has been driven by its home by an unknown cause.* The creature has been on a path of destruction in searching for a new habitat, which has been driving some of the other monsters towards the surface. The player also sees that it is on the path to one of the underground mining bases, and must therefore draw it away from its path and then subdue it with clever use of their equipment, else it make it to the base and cause mass destruction. Also on the surface of the mining world, but a moderate distance away from the headquarters, are a few large drills/buildings (basically, drills that double as buildings because of how massive they are and how much monitoring and input they require). These are under attack by the Inferion, who see them as an obstacle and wish to eliminate them. The player must fight their way through to, and then through, one of the towers using (again) futuristic technology, and eventually fight and take down the demolition-themed boss. *The cause may be implied to be something of Korrighan’s doing. Castle World Upon arriving on this world, the player comes to the castle settlement and finds it under attack by the goblins, so he tries to help defend it. After this show of courage, the hero gets sent on a few missions, most of which are around the settlement, though some involving going to the key conflict areas, where other knights and their vehicles can be found. The player eventually comes across one of the leaders, with an interest in inventing, who befriends him and may perhaps help him with some of his magic. The player also hears from him that the goblins have stolen a power source? that could give the goblins a terrible edge. The player decides to try and retrieve it, and encounters Paladin along the journey after hearing rumors about him. “The name is Paladin. Remember the name, and if you give me good reason to, I shall do the same for yours.” '' '' Paladin agrees to help and sends him on a few errands to prepare for the infiltration. This includes an errand to a rebellious goblin village, where he hears about more of the Inferion near an ancient “haunted” castle whose ground floor has come to blend in with the cliffs in which it lies. Once they are ready for the infiltration, the hero and Paladin set off. At first, the player tries to use a secret entrance Paladin informed him about, giving the player a chance to get near the front gates and the challenges such a position would offer. However, the secret entrance doesn’t work, so the player must journey to a (guarded and gated) goblin-controlled vantage point, from which they can glide into the castle. While all this has been happening, Paladin has snuck off into the castle already to set up distractions, meaning that the events the player partakes on could be repeated later without Paladin. Eventually, the player finds what they need, but is detected by the goblin leader and fights him; details of the boss fight have yet to be determined, but should use some sort of twisted technology the leader has been innovating. After emerging victorious, the player and Paladin are pursued by an unbeatable creature, and they must glide out of the fortress. “You meddle with dark forces, intruder! Prepare for things your '''nightmares' would shiver before!”'' '' '' Separately, on their own, the player finds the “haunted” castle, underneath which are desolate dungeons. Dark spirits underneath a mysterious shadowy force inhabit the castle and manipulate the player’s environment in mild ways. In the dungeons, the player fights a creepy Korrighan boss who can, perhaps among other things, animate the statues in the place (by enabling them to be possessed by dark spirits). This boss has been sent by Korrighan, who is hoping to maybe learn a bit about the force around the castle. Desert World “You want to play with fire? Guess what?! It LOVES to play as much as you little rat do!” '' '' '' The player arrives on the world in a part of the dunes where a sandstorm is occurring. The player journeys to try and find some sort of landmark, fighting Korrighan minions that attack them in the sandstorm, and face the Second in this storm for the first time. They keep journeying until they come across a small settlement located in a sort of hilly part of the world. The village obtains their water by growing large, genetically-engineered cacti-like plants, from which they can extract their water. The player visits the bazaar, where he attempts to help drive away some of the violent pests in that area. The player learns that there has been a giant sandworm infestation that’s been slowly coming nearer and nearer to the village, and that the scientists in the settlement have determined that it is likely the result of an abnormally large* sandworm queen that has sprung up, enabling the sandworms to thrive beyond normal levels, harming both the minifigure civilization as well as the general ecosystem. The player must journey, then, across the sandworm dunes in order to confront the giant sandworm and subdue it, which the minifigures hope will slow the damage. ''“All I see… turns to brown…” '' '' The minifigure makes the journey across the dunes, coming across a small encampment in the middle where some soldier NPCs want to establish an outpost in a larger scheme to launch an organized attack on the queen. After helping defend them from some Inferion (a break from the sandworms), the player continues to the queen’s location and defeats it. In the village, one of the quests the player was assigned would be retrieving a stolen ancient map of the world, including the caves, from some traitors. The player makes a copy of the map before returning it. They go to the caves, where the settlement minifigures collect crystals with some sort of good property (maybe staying away from energy, if crystals are used for the mining world). The cave is also home to many sandworm larvae. Using the map copy, the hero is able to distinguish a secret passage in the cave, leading to the interior of a large domed structure that, from the outside, can barely be seen as it is buried under sand. The exterior layers could perhaps contain statues of the past inhabitants in one outer layer, and statues of the Great Builders in an inner more one. The player comes across a link while exploring, and accidentally visits the Dreaming, though they are not as in control as they would be in future excursions there. They meet Aralen very briefly, who is surprised but, in a position of need, quickly and worriedly asks him to journey into the central semisphere to stop Korrighan. This interior and largest layer, a full semisphere, contains a device which was rumored to have been used long ago by a past civilization to alter the climate of the world, something Korri and the Second think could be useful to them if they can develop it further. Jungle World “Welcome to the jungle, name.” '' '' Soon after arriving, the player encounters a couple of archeologists at a small shrine and helps them with… um, something small. Maybe disabling a trap? The archeologists also complain to the player about some river pirates who are trying to loot some of the artifacts before they can get to them. After journeying on, the player is initially involved in a scuffle with the river pirates, but they soon back off after learning that he is not planning to arrest them, nor a member of a rival, more violent, menacing, and destructive band of raiders, about whom the player learns and (a fair bit later) fights. The pirates, despite backing off, hold the player’s glider at ransom until he helps them defeat their enemy. This leads the player to journey through the ruins lining the edge of the world, defending themselves from some of the mutated “guardian” creatures the past civilization had, a few ancient traps (not too many), and, later, the evil raiders’ and their traps/explosives. And as the player journeys further, the jungle gets denser and darker. The player, still on somewhat uneasy terms with the river pirates, may undertake a mission to discretely drive certain ones away from some damage they are unwittingly causing to the ruins. Along the way, the player may encounter a link or two, but will find themselves unable to use them at the moment. The player eventually finds the boss, who has kidnapped an archeologist to lead him to what he set his sights on. The boss prepares to destroy the exterior in order to find out the secrets, but the player appears and fights him, defeating him and taking his cutlass (or something else) to show the other pirates to prove his victory. The archaeologist tells the player about what’s inside the temple, and after overcoming a few traps inside, the player will obtain a tablet with ancient writing on it. The archaeologist will be unable to read it, but will remind the player of the mythology expert on the hub. The player retrieves their glider (upgraded by the pirates to show their satisfaction), and then flies off to meet the expert, learning from them how to access the Dreaming through the links. The player will then approach one of the earlier links and (after fighting the Second, who appears at this attempt) meets Sumara for the first time. Having heard from Aralen how the player helped him, Sumara tells the player that perhaps the Great Builders could work with him to stop Korrighan, but that the player must prove themselves first. She tells him about Korrighan’s minions’ new attempt to find an isolated, ancient stone outcropping on the outskirts, something Samura had made with Aralen and in which she stored a life-force that Korrighan would use on his army. She assigns the player with attacking the Inferion and their efforts to collect it. The player exits the Dreaming and goes through a different portion of the jungle. I imagine this part may be different in that it goes uphill a bit, gets rockier with more pools as it goes on, and that the life force in the water pouring from the outcropping has led to some very large trees at its base. Upon arriving here, the player attacks the Inferion, climbing up the outcropping and facing a climbing/swinging Korri boss closer to the top. “Perhaps, explorer, you will be able to help us all. If so, your quest will be unlike any other…” '' '' After doing so, the player finds another link, and Sumara thanks him, saying that he may be the one who can help the Great Builders defeat Korrighan. Dino World “*'RWAAAAAAAAHR!*”'' Upon arriving, the player first visits the small minifigure research center, which has studied and captured some of the dino-like (not actual earth dinosaurs, but biologically the same idea) creatures found on the world. At this research center, the player can learn more about the world, purchase this world’s equipment, and perform missions relating to the research of the “dinosaurs”, perhaps such as retrieving one that has escaped. They learn that another group of scientists with a wealthy sponsor/leader have also been capturing dinosaurs, shipping them off somewhere on the edge of the island from the beach (a large part of this world is occupied by an ocean-like body of water). The scientists mention with dismay that these poachers have been testing unethically on the dinosaurs, and have recently captured some of the world’s sentient, humanoid reptile population. The scientists hope that these captives can escape before they face harm, and the player decides to attempt to rescue them. To start off with, the player must journey to the poachers’ beach outpost and infiltrate it before hijacking one of their boats. And naturally, wherever the player journeys on this map, they’ll also have to contend with dinosaurs from time to time. After hijacking the boat, the player is free to look for where the captive species have been taken, navigating through several islands and occasionally fighting poacher boats. Maybe there are some good guy boats (not necessarily just the scientists; they can be something else or miscellaneous) from which the player can receive these missions. From one of the mainland links, the player also has been tasked by the Great Builders, who have now grouped together to meet the player at these links, in tests that require the player to retrieve certain dangerous plants from these islands, that, if Korrighan altered their genetic code, they feel could be quite disastrous. On one of these missions, the Second has found the player and attacks him with an Inferion pirate ship (or something). The player loses the plant this time despite defeating his creation, but the Great Builders are not too upset, understanding what the player is up against. ''“Security systems: '''enable. Use whatever you must to stop the trespasser!”'' '' '' The player eventually finds the location of the captives; an artificial island inside which the sponsor has been performing the mutations on the creatures. The player infiltrates it and, in response, the sponsor lets some of her mutations out on the player, though they are able to overcome them. They battle their way forward, eventually finding the sentient captives. They battle the boss (either the sponsor after an accidental mutation or simply one particularly deadly creation of hers) and can escape. The Korrighan subplot on this world involves a large-scale Korrighan attack on the sentient lizard population’s home on the large northern forest island, with the boss being one of his army’s generals. Perhaps to cross to this island, instead of using the boat again, there’s this sort of rickety, unstable bridge that needs to be crossed there. Dark Forest World (Note: This one is more detailed than most of the rest due to already having been mostly written separately before.) “Oh, yes, we’ve got some nice forests. And wolves. And bandits. And uprisings. Why exactly did you come here again?” '' '' The player starts out on the edge of the island, and, after a little bit of walking, comes across a small communications outpost there, established so that the settlement can remain in contact with the hub world. One of the main paths through the forest is blocked by a gate controlled by the outpost, so the player talks with the sole worker there. He is busy fixing some of the equipment after the outpost was attacked by the wildlife, and asks the player to help fix the transmission tower as he works on the power supplier. After they finish the quest and he gives them the code; he also tells the player to be on the lookout for not only the wildlife, but also the Knights of the Forest, whom he calls “the bandits”, as they will likely attack the player in the hopes of stealing some of his belongings. Sure enough, as the player goes on his way, they are attacked by the Knights, but they eventually make their way to the main settlement. There, the Guardsmen are fending off some wolves (actually influenced by the Doekkanda) who have been attacking the gates, and one of the guards asks the player to defeat a certain number of these wolves. After the player does so, they receive a reward and information on the location of the secret entrance. After entering the village, the player does several upkeep missions for the inhabitants. One of the ones includes, after being granted an axe, being sent out to chop down trees for firewood. The axe would be the only weapon used to break the trees that would yield “wood” to pick up. In addition to being part of the mission, wood the player gathers later could be used to craft items. Another mission could be some errand relating to the dwarves. By meeting with them, the player could choose to take a break from the village missions and focus on the Korri subplot for a while instead, but more on that later. After a while, the player is sent out on a mission to check on an expedition deeper in the forest to set up a small fort. First, they encounter some scouts under attack by the bandits, who want to steal some of the resources they have been transporting. One of the scouts is injured, but in stable condition, so the NPCs can remain in the same place all the time with a reasonable explanation: they’re caring for the wounded scout. Finally, they come across the expedition, which is under attack by the Doekkanda and Knights on a larger scale than the village was, so the quests one performs there are more action-orientated and involve defending the workers. After this, the player is finally told the story of what happened and goes in search for the Knights’ home, an ancient stone structure into which they have built their buildings. There, they fight the Knights and face off against the boss, the leader of the Knights. He is the main non-Korri boss. (Somewhere between the events of the above and below paragraph, the Great Builders have given the player a second-final test.) Meanwhile, the Inferion have been looking for some artifact buried in the mountain, and have as such came in contact with the dwarves, who live on the mountain and, to a lesser extent, mine within it. The player helps defend the dwarves from the Inferion, and, seeing a link in their temple, FINISH LATER Basically, Korri gains some major upper-hand, the Great Builders lose hope, but the player is determined to go forth and try to stop him regardless, and the Great Builders, in light of his dedication, decide to continue helping him wherever they can. Preparations/Revisiting the Worlds I thought that this point, perhaps, would be a good chance to let the player prepare for the harder worlds, and convey the seriousness of what the player has to overcome through the preparation the Great Builders have him undergo. This is also a chance for us to maybe add a bit to worlds that may feel slightly bare compared to others, or that we have more interest in and ideas for. One example I thought of was a small sort of mission near the mining world involving Blacktron-themed enemies on a sort of mini island/mini world. Once the player makes all the preparations, they journey to the third tier on a trek to confront Korrighan and save Acrea. Ice World “Brr…” '' '' The player first encounters a group of non-“human” nomads. They are not interacted with much at all, but they give the player an introduction to the world, talking about the ice queen as well as the troubled explorers. The player continues journeying on, but is attacked by the ice queen and her minions. He suffers a small defeat, but the ice queen demonstrates her desire to keep him alive in order to torture him further. Perhaps she also steals his glider to ensure he doesn’t leave. The player then meets the explorers (a much smaller group than those that appear on Tier 2 worlds), who reveal that they have been toyed with by the Ice Queen in similar ways; she has basically trapped them on the world, disabling them of the ability to regain supplies or support, and constantly putting them in danger. The player may perform a few missions for the explorers, such as defending them from threats or (I was thinking maybe they came to the ice world to perform scientific investigations on the ice) assisting them in any research they may try to continue since they’re stuck anyway. The player also gets some advice/equipment for navigating the world and confronting the ice queen. Unlike a lot of previous worlds, however, this is not based so much on weaponry. The ice monsters are very strong, so the player’s combat methods and equipment involve using the environment against their enemies. For example, they could cause an avalanche, destroy an ice pillar, etc. The player eventually journeys through the icy “mountains”, braving guardians, monsters, and fog to confront the ice queen in her fortress. They destroy a source of her power or weaken her in a fight, allowing her manipulation of the explorers to lessen and for the player to retrieve their glider. The links that the player encounters will also be in the mountains. Details to be determined later. “Our vehicles can’t go in that area. Too much thin ice. You’ll have to go by foot. Bet you’re used to that by now, aren’t ya?” Korri’s plot will involve his forces attempting to slowly advance through the world, melting a large amount of the ice in the process. The player starts by going through the watery portions on the edge of Korri’s activities. There’d be thin, and maybe floating, ice that the player would have to navigate through, and maybe could use to their advantage in combat. Partway through, the player encounters the Second again. Closer to the main Korri boss, the “watery” stuff is replaced with scorched, dry ground; Jeyo compared it to the beginning of that Alpha Team online game. Unlike Tier 1-2, where the Korrighan bosses only really are fought because the player involves themselves in their missions, for Tier 3, I’m thinking it should be more like the bosses exist largely for the particular purpose of stopping/defeating the player. So basically, no more “Korri is doing this, go stop him” missions tied to the bosses, but rather “Do this, and watch out for Korri” missions. Obsidian/Machinery World “Existence just feels so… futile in this form. No purpose served but our continued thoughts and fears.” “Well, perhaps if you can help me, it won’t be so futile after all.” Upon arriving, the player is confronted by a mini-boss. This intense fight upon first arrival sets the mood for the world. Other robots arrive, forcing the player to flee to a bunker. Here, the player meets (like all worlds, this needs NPCs) the stored consciousness of a few of the destroyed civilization’s civilians, who take the form of holograms. They tell the player a bit about the world’s history (the robots rebelled against their creators and started terminating them), as well as lament over the robots’ operation of a gigantic sort of “doomsday” device. There’s some flexibility with what it may do; one idea I had was that it was slowly moving the island towards other Acrean worlds, where the robots could then travel over to and wreck chaos. The player decides that they will attempt to disable the device. The NPCs warn the player, as he sets out, that now that his appearance on the island is known, the robots will be on the lookout for him, hoping to hunt him down. The player must journey first to a sort of destroyed factory in order to, hopefully, salvage equipment that will enable him to hold his own against the robots better; unfortunately, they cannot say where it is, so the player will have to brave the world in his own search for it. The player will likely want to make this journey without attracting the attention of too many robots due to the lack of appropriate equipment he has. Throughout the world, there will also be several invincible robots trying to hunt him down, which the player will have to be sure to hide/escape from as they travel. The player enters the factory, which also attacks him (the machinery, floors, etc.) as he navigates it. He eventually finds what he’s looking for, though, and begins to make his way towards the device. He infiltrates it and heads for the main room, and inside the complex machinery, has the boss battle. The boss would either be the device’s “controller” or a very powerful robot that has tracked him down into the device. The player defeats the boss and destroys the main room. “Something strange has come over that portion of the world. Fiery beings have appeared and begun to keep the robot numbers under control.” “Oh boy…” Korrighan also has control of a decently-large portion of the world, and has been eliminating the robots which have tried to interfere with his plans; generally, there’s an inverse relationship between the number of Inferion and robots at any sort of point in the world. Korri’s minions have been inhabiting the dense black spire covered area of the world (there can be other spires, of course, but Korri’s “area” is really dense with these), where Korrighan has been setting up camps, mini forts, vehicles/beasts, and the like. The boss could, potentially, be one of these beasts/vehicles. Lava World “I don’t know what it is, but I think you’re getting closer to Korrighan.” The lava world consists of one large volcano, a relatively-large lava lake over which the small civilization lives, a sort of rocky, cliffy, active area up to the top of the main volcano, and Korrighan’s ore-harvesting facilities. There could also be a small, rocky water section, but that’s optional. After arriving on the world and going through a bit of the dangerous wildlife, the player encounters the small civilization. The specie lives high above the lava lake in structures held up by pillars and cables, keeping them safe from certain species of wildlife. From their position above the lava lake, they are also able to harness a kind of geothermal energy which they use in their constructs. Once meeting the civilization, the player finds that they are under attack by Korri’s forces on one end or something, and helps fight them off. This would lead to a lot of fun fighting on the cables/pipes/thin bridges above the lava. He learns that the civilization, which once covered a larger part of the world, was forced to their one single location by Korri’s advancement. After the Korri-related fighting, the player also hears that a rogue member of their species has kidnapped another/stolen something and ran away to around the top of the volcano (or another cool location). The motive can be flexible; one idea I had is that the boss is a radical that believes sacrificing someone to the volcano will drive away Korrighan’s forces. Regardless, the player journeys through the harsh landscape to track him down. In the process, they encounter creatures such as those dinosaur/dragon things Boba wanted; the boss himself doesn’t have any minions, though he may have some other kind of defenses. The boss rides one of these creatures in the boss battle. “That monstrous, fiery mining operation on the other side of the mountain wouldn’t happen to be yours, would it?” '' '' The Korrighan subplot involves the large ore-harvesting operation that he has set up on the world. The player must navigate the hardships that his equipment and landscape changes present, the strong workers, and of course his general soldiers. The player also needs to make the final preparations to journey to the Labyrinth*. The Final World *(the “Labyrinth” as a temp. name) and Core I’ll keep this basic for now, since this is basically all Great Builder stuff (not my specialty), but I still have a few ideas. The labyrinth should have more to it than just being a maze, I think. Whether this means it’s three-dimensional as opposed to two-dimensional, has multiple levels, or some other twist, it should demonstrate the awe associated with the Great Builders. A large portion of the way through the labyrinth is Korrighan’s “HQ”, as well as the Second’s, which has been constructed close to the Core. Once the player goes through these, they find Korrighan, who leaves into the core and has a boss attack the player, hoping this will deal with him. The player defeats the boss and enters the core, and fights with Korrighan, succeeding. Miscellaneous/General Thoughts · Are there any other prominent explorers in Acrea? Does the player interact with them in any way? · I was thinking that Second minions could perhaps extend a little bit beyond his bosses. This would particularly work well on the ice world, where Korri’s range can be extended by his creations, which can perhaps tolerate the ice a bit more. · Since there are dinosaur things on two worlds already, I guess they could have a minor appearance on the jungle world too. Category:Blog posts